Information:

Why Fanned-Fret®?

The "fanning" of the frets results from manipulating
the scale length of the bass side of the neck relative to
the treble side: the fret spacing is wider for the long scale
and closer for the short scale.

Looking inside a grand piano, or at a harp, we see that the
string lengths vary with the pitches of the strings. But fretted
instruments are traditionally constructed to a single scale
length, negating the benefits of scale length relative to
pitch. Since there are relatively few strings on most stringed
instruments, compromises are made and string gauges are manipulated
for workable results. Players, accustomed to the compromises
of single scale-length construction, are often pleasantly
surprised by the richness and clarity of Fanned-Fret®
instruments. When the fanned-fret concept is applied to the
six-string guitar, the resulting instrument has a "focused"
sound - clear, articulate and balanced. Some players say "more
in tune" or "more accurate."

An exclusive Novax option is our XR (extended range) neck;
no other guitar can claim this! The Fanned-Fret system allows
us to create an instrument capable of tunings that extend
both above the usual range in the treble and below the usual
range in the bass, simultaneously! Not only can you explore
the world of altered tunings without the hassles of “flabby”
string tension, but in standard tuning you get a tone that
is rich and “huge” sounding - the biggest, clearest,
most articulate tone you’ve heard from a guitar. It
can double as a baritone guitar with the addition of heavier
strings, and it can accommodate “Fripp tuning”
easily. The treble scale length is in the “normal”
range so the instrument feels natural and note bending, fret
reach, and string tension are familiar.

One of the real advantages of the Fanned-Fret® concept
lies in its application to instruments like the seven-string
guitar, eight-string guitar, five-string bass, six-string
bass, baritone guitar, and mandolin. The range of tunings
and number of strings force compromises that make these instruments
poor performers or even impractical when constructed with
the traditional single scale-length. The fanned-fret concept
addresses those problems and makes these instruments playable
and practical.